Since its establishment in 1975, Boyd Gaming has made a name for itself in the gaming and entertainment industry. The company owns and operates 22 gaming properties in eight states and has become one of the most successful casino entertainment companies in the United States, largely because of its ability to offer customers a distinctive gaming experience paired with a keen attention to customer service.

Online, Boyd has created a unique community for its fans, called B Connected. The Web site has more than 700,000 registered users and generates more than 6.1 million log-ins per year. The community also has a mobile and social component.

With a solid casino loyalty program already in place and its cluster of online fans gaining momentum, Boyd turned to social infrastructure provider Gigya to transform its B Connected program into a completely social experience by building on an active customer base and taking advantage of cutting-edge social infrastructure technologies to turn casual players into engaged advocates. With Gigya's help, Boyd set out to develop the first comprehensive social gaming platform linked to a casino loyalty program.

"Our implementation with Boyd Gaming is a great example of the power of tying gamification and other social infrastructure technologies to loyalty programs—both online and offline," Gigya's vice president of client services, Brian Sullivan, explains. "For B Connected Online, users can accrue points for sharing offers and events [with] their social networks from B Connected Online or any of Boyd Gaming's eighteen online properties. This blends Gigya's Share Plugins with our gamification technology, [creating] an incredibly valuable behavior feedback loop that encourages users to take part in activities that are inherently valuable to Boyd Gaming."

Participants can also earn points by completing activities such as linking their site accounts with their social network accounts, booking hotel rooms, and sharing promotions and events with friends.

Gigya has helped Boyd expand its social elements past the realm of the Web site as well. For example, users can earn "social points" when they check in on Foursquare or Facebook at any Boyd Gaming Casino. As players earn points, collect badges, "level up," and otherwise take part in the gamified environment, they are able to redeem their social points for entries into real-world giveaways for trips, iPads, slot dollars, gift cards, and more.

Through the implementation of Gigya's social infrastructure technology, Boyd Gaming has been able to reinvigorate its network of more than half a million registered users, and transform their interaction with Boyd into a fully social experience—one that brings together the best of Boyd's offline and online loyalty programs.

Since Boyd Gaming implemented Gigya's solution, more than 43,000 customers have opted in to Boyd's B Connected Social program. In its launch month, B Connected Online saw the highest traffic in its history, with more than 700,000 visits, and the highest percentage of online hotel bookings for the company yet.

Sharing improved dramatically as well: Users shared their activity on their social networks more than 35,000 times, bringing in more than three social referrals per share. Site users who actively engage in the gamified environment on the site are taking more than 115,000 game-based actions per month, and social check-ins across all Boyd Gaming outlets have increased by 30.4 percent.

"Gigya proved its value within just a few months of our implementation, and the ROI since then has been astounding," Brian Best, corporate vice president of e-commerce at Boyd Gaming, adds. "By allowing our users to participate in a gamified environment using their social identities, we've seen a tremendous boost in user engagement and referral traffic—two metrics that are core to our success online."

The Payoff

Since turning to Gigya to expand its gamification strategy, Boyd Gaming has seen:

more than 43,000 customers opt in to Boyd's B Connected Social program;

700,000 visitors participate in B Connected Social in its launch month alone;

site users taking more than 115,000 game-based actions in one month; and

social check-ins across all Boyd Gaming outlets increase by 30.4 percent.